Fated Bonds
by PrincessofPanties
Summary: When a strange persona user enters their lives nothing will be the same for the members of S.E.E.S, especially in the case of a girl by the name of Yukari Takeba. A retelling of P3P in Yukari's view. The events won't specifically follow canon, as I'm writing this to pander the pairing of MinakoxYukari in the first place.
1. A Close Encounter

"Who's there!?"

A girl's sharp voice shattered the thick silence of the night, piercing the air like a flying arrow. It held tension within it, a kind of fear as if expecting to encroach upon some sort of monster, however the owner of the voice, a teenage girl dressed in pink attire, seemed even more shocked by what actually stood at the dorm's entrance. Not a monster, but a seemingly ordinary girl, just as herself. However, she wouldn't allow such a fact to deter her, after all it was the dark hour and only shadows and persona users were granted the ability to experience it. Despite the other girl's plain looks, her carmine eyes wide with confusion, the pink clothed girl had no choice but to pull out her evoker, her slim fingers gripping the handle a little too tight. It was apparent that she was trying her best to put up a brave farce, however anyone could be astute enough to notice the hard grip on her evoker and the deep furrow of her brows and come to the conclusion that she was really just frightened. The stranger's mouth opened, as if about to make a remark, but another loud voice resulted in her clamming up, it said,

"Takeba, stop!"

Yukari Takeba, although she'd loath to admit, actually felt a wave of relief wash through her as her senpai, Mitsuru Kirijo, made her way onto the scene. Despite the situation Mitsuru seemed as calm as ever, her ruby eyes scanning over the intruder without a single hint of fear in them. Finally she nodded, satisfied, before responding.

"This girl is our guest."

As soon as her words were out the room flickered back to life as the dark hour ended. A sigh escaped Yukari once her surroundings were illuminated, it seemed that, fortunately, she wouldn't have to worry about overcoming her fear just yet. Though, she knew she would eventually, but it was best not to delve on that when other issues were currently being presented.

"Uh...hi?" The stranger awkwardly greeted, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "I'm uh, sorry if I scared you? This is just the dorm I've been assigned to."

"She's a new transfer student." Mitsuru further explained, brushing a strand of long red hair off her shoulder. "There had been some issues with selecting a dorm for her, so she's been chosen to stay here for the time being."

Yukari bristled a bit at being called 'scared', but decided to hold her tongue on the matter. The little encounter honestly drained a lot from her and she was feeling quite exhausted, still she managed a sentence.

"Sorry about that then...the name's Yukari Takeba...I uh...it's nice to meet you."

The new girl flashed a bright smile, one Yukari nor Mitsuru seemed to be expecting. It was as if all that had just happened didn't even phase her, and if that were the case Yukari wondered if there were anything that COULD.

"I'm Minako Arisato!" She chirped, that smile of hers refusing to falter. "I hope we get along!"

"In any case..." Mitsuru murmured, ignoring the sudden shift in mood. "Did you arrive here alright? You didn't run into any problems, did you?"

Minako furrowed her brows, thoughtful for a moment, before shaking her head, sending her brown ponytail flying to and fro. "Nah, I got here just fine, obviously!" She smiled once again.

Mitsuru seemed to accept this answer, giving a response with a nod of her head. "Very well, I suppose after all that's happened you would like to head to your room." She faced Yukari before anyone could give an answer. "Takeba, I'd like to ask if you would please escort her."

Yukari knew well enough that it was more of a command than being asked, still she didn't raise any objections as she didn't particularly mind. "Alright." She muttered, taking a few steps toward their new dorm mate. "If you'd just follow me I'll take you to your room, it's on the third floor."

"Of course, lead the way then!"

Minako's voice was light and cheery, her countenance consisting of a wide smile, matching up with that voice. It still came as a shock to Yukari that the girl could shake off the events that just happened, just like that. Seeing the dark hour and almost being mistakenly attacked, if it had been Yukari in that position she'd of panic. Truthfully, she was almost jealous of how much at ease she seemed, almost.

They walked in silence up the stairs to the 3rd floor of the dorm, when they reached the outside of Minako's room Yukari paused. "Well, here it is..." She managed an amicable smile. "Do you have any questions before you, well, settle in?"

"Yeah actually..." The carmine eyed girl glanced around before asking, in a more hushed tone. "Does that boy live here too?"

Yukari was startled by this question. "W-what boy?"

When Minako remained silent she sighed, giving her head a slow shake. "Geez...don't say weird things like that."

"Sorry sorry!" The girl apologized, quickly smiling as if that would chase away any negative emotions, which Yukari had to admit it almost did. That smile looked rather natural on Minako's face, pretty even.

"Hey, uh, you ok?"

Yukari was galvanized into blushing when she realized she got caught staring. Why the hell was she even staring in the first place? Maybe she was more tired than she initially thought.

"I'm fine...kind of tired."

Minako nodded. "Yeah, I can tell...I won't keep you any longer then."

A brief moment of hesitation passed before Yukari murmured. "Well, if you end up having any more questions don't be afraid to ask and umm...don't tell anyone about the stuff that happened today..."

"Roger that, Yukari-san!" The girl gave a mock salute.

"Right...well, I'll see you in the morning then." Yukari dismissed herself, turning around and heading towards her room, but she halted when she heard Minako call out after her.

"Thank you!" Was all that she said, but it was enough to make Yukari smile faintly with its simplicity.

"You're welcome, Minako-san." She murmured in reply before entering her room, immediately blacking out as soon as her body hit the bed.

 **AN: I love this pairing a lot but never see much of it. So, I'm changing that. It's up to me to spread the love.**


	2. Hopelessness

Yukari knocked for what felt like the hundredth time yet she still received no response from her new dorm mate. It was six in the morning, the world beyond the windows still dim as if it too were just waking up. A sigh escaped from the teenager, it had been Mitsuru's request for Yukari to take Minako to school with her, and it wasn't as if she had minded that certain task, but, she hadn't been aware at the time just how heavy a sleeper the newbie was. If this kept up they could be late; they could miss their ride there. She decided to knock one last time.

"Minako, if you don't get up I'm gonna have to come in!"

THAT earned her a response.

"I'm up, I'm up! Yeesh, I'm just fixing up my hair, hold on one more second please!"

Yukari sighed once again, propping herself against the wall. If Minako was awake all those times she knocked then why hadn't she said anything? Was she trying to mess with her? She didn't get much time to ponder on it as the door burst open with Minako behind it, all cheers and smiles.

"Sorry to make you wait, Yukari! I'm awful with mornings, y'know?"

'Could have fooled me...' Yukari thought as she stared at the girl, baffled by the enthusiasm practically flying off of her. It was much too early for her to feel any emotions akin to that; still she kept a friendly attitude as not to dissuade the perky brunette.

"It's no trouble; it's your first day so I couldn't blame you." She managed a small smile and was met with one of Minako's beams. Yukari made a mental note that she was going to have to get used to those, she'd be seeing them a lot. "Are you all ready now?"

"Of course I am!" Minako heartily laughed. "I'm excited to see what this place looks like, I heard in terms of schools that it's pretty 'fancy'"

"Well, I guess you can say that..." Yukari agreed as she glanced at the clock on the wall. "Yikes! If we stand around any longer we'll miss our ride! I'll tell you more about Gekkokan once we're on the monorail!"

"Monorail! That sounds awe-ack!"

* * *

The talkative girl was cut short as Yukari grabbed her arm and made a break for the dorm's main room. Honestly, Minako seemed a little hopeless. She wondered if she were going to have to wake her up every morning, just to make sure she stayed on track. Yukari mentally sighed, she felt like some sort of babysitter.

"I can't believe we managed to make it on time..."

Yukari was breathless by the time they boarded the monorail. She and Minako had ran the entire way there but to her complete astonishment Minako wasn't fazed at all. Not even a tiny bit out of breath. She must be athletic, or perhaps her energy really was just endless. Yukari really didn't want to reflect on what that would mean if that were the case, considering how her own energy always seemed to dry out rather quickly.

"I can't believe we're riding a monorail to school, this is so cool!" Minako was acting like a child, eyes wide with enthusiasm.

"Bet your old school wasn't like this, huh?" Yukari asked, finding herself smiling faintly at the girl's excitement.

"Not at all!" She agreed, facing the ecru haired girl with another of her infamous smiles. "Gekkokan really is something else!"

Yukari nodded. "Gekkokan High is a private school, it's located right in the middle of Tatsumi Port Island, did you know that the whole island was actually man made?"

"I actually did hear that, it's amazing!" The newbie gushed. "I bet the school itself looks incredible!"

"Well..." Yukari pointed towards one of the windows. "We're approaching it right now, you can catch a glimpse if you..." She trailed of when she realized Minako was no longer standing beside her but was barreling aside some other poor passengers in order to take a peek out the window.

"Woah it's big!" The girl's red eyes practically glimmered. The other passengers didn't quite share her enthusiasm, flashing her light glares that she didn't seem to notice.

Yukari sighed; she realized she seemed to be doing this quite often recently. That girl really WAS hopeless, wasn't she?

* * *

"And...here we are, welcome to Gekkokan High."

Yukari introduced the building as she followed Minako off the monorail; the latter was barely paying attention however, looking around in wonder at the numerous students milling about.

"There's a lot of people here!" She let out an impressed whistle with her statement.

"Well, yeah, it's a big school after all." Yukari replied to Minako's obvious statement.

"It's almost daunting!" The ruby eyed girl laughed, not looking at all daunted.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Yukari assured, "after all, with that upbeat attitude of yours I'm positive you'll have no trouble making new friends."

Minako beamed at the statement. "You really think so? Well, if Yukari-chan says so then it must be true!"

Her smile seriously could have put the sun to shame with its brightness. Yukari wasn't fully sure how to react with it aimed directly at her. She decided to glance away as she replied, "Well, that's enough meandering out here, we should head inside and get to class."

"Mmhmm!" The girl was still beaming as she trotted after Yukari into the building that would be her school for the next year. It was a pristine, clean place with white tiled floors that stretched out as far as the eye could see. White columns stood, proud and tall, in the center of the main room, whilst various students, all clad in their black uniforms, milled around and chattered. The atmosphere was rather lively with the students and teachers getting ready to begin a new year. Minako seemed particularly interested with one girl who was standing by the bulletin board, her long, black ponytail hanging limply in the air as she discussed something with another student. Yukari gave the distracted girl a prod to the shoulder to regain her attention.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be ok from here, right?" She asked once she was sure those ruby eyes were on her. "I recommend giving your home room teacher a quick visit first, the faculty office is just over there to the left, any questions?"

"Wait, you're gonna leave me?" Minako gasped eyes wide.

"Well, I have my own things to do..." Yukari replied, quirking a brow at the girl's sudden change in demeanor.

She deflated, pouting. "I liked hanging with you though..."

The ecru haired girl wasn't expecting such a reply, and was a bit shocked upon hearing it. "Uh...well, we'll see each other after school; we're dorm mates after all."

Minako hesitated for a moment, looking as if she wanted to complain some more before putting a smile back on. "Alright, I'll talk to you later then!"

"Seeya..." Yukari mumbled, watching as the brunette ran in the opposite direction of the faculty office and over to the girl she had been gazing at moments ago. The two struck up a chat, Minako's friendly demeanor instantly winning the attention of those around her, soon she was talking with a whole group of students, laughing with that big smile on her face. Yukari managed a small smile of her own as she walked away. Maybe Minako wasn't that hopeless after all.

...maybe.

 **AN: I apologize for the length of these chapter; writing longer chapters is something I need to work on...as well as editing. Microsoft Word is exactly too reliable lol. Anyways, I threw in a Rio cameo! I like her, so maybe I'll add her again some other time *shrugs***


End file.
